I love a bit of art. I think art and writing sit well together. In fact, I think all writers can benefit from a little bit of art in their lives. How you ask? Read on…
1) Inspiration
Ok so this is an obvious one, but it’s still worth mentioning. Experiencing any kind of artwork (and I’m talking anything from a painting to an outside sculpture to a piece of pottery) can certainly fire off your creative neurons.
2) Motivation
Leading on from number one you can get creative motivation from artists themselves. I find following artists and seeing the way they work, their studios, and what they produce helps to give me a bit of get up and go when it comes to my own work. You can sometimes see artists in person with open studio events, but these days it’s easy to follow people via things like Instagram, YouTube, blogs, magazines, and even podcasts, and documentaries.
3) Writing Prompts
Need a writing exercise to practice your skills. Simply take a piece of art as your starting point and off you go. You could write about what’s happening in the artwork itself, or about the creator, or how it makes you feel – there’s really no limit except your imagination (sorry I can’t believe I wrote that).
4) Interior Decor
This can be related to writing, I promise. Surrounding yourself with stimulating artwork can help you via a kind of osmosis. And if you buy from small artists you’re helping the creative community – bonus points!
5) A Day Trip
It helps to get out, especially if you have a bit of writer’s block. And where better to go than an art gallery? These buildings aren’t just full of art they’re often light, airy bits of stylish architecture in and of themselves.
09/08/2020 at 7:39 PM
TRUE! A hundred times, true! If I think about it long enough, I probably have a hundred stories to offer as proof. And those are just the instances I’m aware of. Last year, for instance, I needed a picture for my NaNo cover before drafting Protecting the Pneuma Key. Thing is, at that point there was no key. I stumbled across a painting on Pixabay and was stunned. It was my heroine. The artist might as well have pulled her from my head. The problem was, she was holding a large key, probably six inches long. I’m a stickler for detail and having the key so prominent was deceptive if it wasn’t relevant (yes, I know, it was JUST a NaNo cover). I skipped the picture, but it haunted me. The key. I couldn’t stop thinking about the key. Days later, I downloaded the picture and reworked my outline to include the key. It, literally, became key to the story. I have endless, similar tales, from musicians to famous artists to architects to even inventors. Art gives inspiration in a unique way the real world cannot, though, its value, too, is great.
11/09/2020 at 2:14 PM
Wow what a great story! It’s so great that this single piece of artwork could unlock the tale for you. I haven’t had quite the same experience yet but the cover picture I found for my first book was serendipitous it how well it fit the story.
15/02/2021 at 12:29 AM
I had an interesting experience several years ago. I have a side job as an art model, and one day the professor was teaching the class how to draw faces. I was a bit bored just sitting there, so I figured I could listen to what he was saying, and try to apply it to writing too. Well, he said this: you can’t just draw a circle for the face; you have to draw an oval for the skull, then add in the jaw underneath. And you can’t just draw circles for the eyes; you have to draw the eye sockets, then draw the eyeballs inside the sockets, and the pupils in the eyes, for everything to look natural. And THAT is what I realized that I do better as a plotter than a pantser. I need that structure too, just as a portrait artist does. I have to start with the basic strokes, then add in more detail as I go along. That made my writing so much richer and complex. So YES, you can absolutely glean lessons from the art world and apply them to the art of writing. <3
15/02/2021 at 5:55 PM
An excellent connection between art and writing! The structure of art is often overlooked, but like most creative pursuits there’s always a solid practical element.